During my first year of studies at Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest, NC, I had the privilege of playing my violin in the orchestra pit for North Raleigh Christian Academy's production of Singin' in the Rain. The production was a lot of fun, and even now, there are times when this song and others from the musical will get stuck in my head (like right now). If we choose to sing in the rain, doing so can make us "happy again." But what about pain? Maybe you lose a loved one. Maybe you lose your source of income. Maybe you lose your health. Maybe someone important walks out of your life. Maybe you are a victim of emotional or other abuse. Whatever the source of your pain, your first reaction is seldom if ever - to sing. But it is possible. In Acts Chapter 16, Paul and Silas are beaten and imprisoned for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A first century Philippian prison would not be the most conducive place for singing. Despite their pain and their circumstances, Acts 16:25 tells us, "But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them." How many of the Psalms (songs) in our Bible were composed out of painful circumstances! The Bible teaches that God not only gives us a song in the night (Psalm 42:8, "In the night, His song shall be with me.") but that He Himself is our song (Exodus 15:2, "The LORD is my strength and song; and He has become my salvation." No matter how painful your circumstances may be at this moment, ask God to give you the ability to sing in the pain. Photo Credit: torbakhopper Used by permission under Creative Commons License
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Whether you've finalized your 2020 resolutions, don't have plans to make any, or are somewhere in between, the best place to start thinking about change in the New Year is with the Word of God. Before you start figuring out how to get out of debt or shed those holiday pounds (and those are wonderful goals!), start with the Bible, and with prayer, ask God to guide your priorities. Even within the 66 books of the Bible, you may wonder where to begin, so here are some suggestions. Picture a home builder that needs to support about 100,000 pounds of house. If he has just one support beam under that load, that one beam has to support it all - all 100,000 pounds. Say he configures the plan to call for ten support beams - each one only has to support 10,000 pounds. But increase the number of beams to 20, and now these beams can enjoy a 5,000 pound walk in the park. I know you can do this simple math, and so what was the point of this elementary math lesson? If we were to quantify the ministry that is to be done in the local church in terms of man hours, or the funds that it will take to help God’s work in the local church flourish, and place all of that responsibility on the shoulders of one person - wow! The person is going to crumble. Even if someone could sustain the load for 3 seconds, they are toast afterward. I recently shared this devotional with the men of Grace Baptist Church in Fayetteville, NC where I serve as pastor. Probably all of us know of several examples where guys grew up working so hard to gain their father's approval. But no matter how hard they tried, they can never remember a time when Dad said, "I'm proud of you, son," or "Good job." As far as they can tell, they never gained their dad's approval. That may even be your own story. We understand that this reality can have a devastating impact on a young man with ripple effects that last years. The Bible makes clear that we have a heavenly Father. Gaining His approval is all that truly matters. If we have His approval, it does not matter who else may approve of us. He is #1. And He makes very clear how we can meet with His approval. Jesus told the story of a man who left town for awhile. Before he left, he gave three of his workers some measure of responsibility. Two of the three multiplied the value of their responsibility while he was away. When he returned, he said to each of those two, "Well done, good and faithful servant." As Christians, we strive to live our lives in such a way that, when we go home to heaven, we hear those words of affirmation from our heavenly Father - "Well done, good and faithful servant." Here's the thing, though. Jesus taught us that there is none good but God. No one is faithful like God either. So, how can we get to a point where the one who alone is good labels us "good and faithful?" This is the life of grace. In 2 Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul tells of a thorn in the flesh that was given to him lest he should become boastful. Three times he asked God to remove this thorn from him, and three times God said no. Instead of removing the thorn, God said to Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." We understand that the word "perfect" here is interchangeable with the idea of being "made complete." If I am trying to live the Christian life in my own strength, I am not experiencing the fullness of God's grace and strength that is available to me. He must increase; I must decrease. My strength to be good will quickly dissipate. My strength to be faithful will run out just as quickly. For me to hear my heavenly Father say "Well done, good and faithful servant," one day, I must give up operating in my own strength and surrender control to Him. Then He works out His own goodness through me, His own faithfulness through me, and works toward making me holy, good, and faithful as He is holy, good, and faithful. The sooner I come to the end of my self, the sooner I will see the strength of God made perfect in my own weakness. And when that happens, I will hear my Father say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." |
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